Bibliographic  check-list  of 

the  works  of  James  Branch  Cabell 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


By    MERLE    JOHNSON 


A  Bibliographic  C heck- 
List  of  the  IVorks  of 
James  Branch  Cabell 


ig2i  FRANK  SHAY  Publisher 


A  BIBLIOGRAPHIC  CHECK-LIST 

OF  THE  WORKS  OF 

JAMES  BRANCH  CABELL 


p\ 


THE   BIBLIOGRAPHIC    CHECK-LIST    OF 

THE  WORKS  OF  JAMES  BRANCH  CABELL 

is  limited  to  250  copies  of  which 

200  are  for  sale. 


No._Uriir_.__ 


Uniform  with  this  booklet.  The  Bibliography  of 

Walt    Whitman.    By  Frank  Shay.    Limited 

to  450  numbered  copies. 


A  BIBLIOGRAPHIC 

CHECK-LIST  OF  THE  WORKS  OF 

JAMES  BRANCH  CABELL 

1904-1921 

By  Merle  Johnson 


New  York 

FRANK    SHAY 

1921 


z 


AN  EPISTOLARY  PREFACE 
By  James  Branch  Cabell 


April  23, 1921. 
Dear  Mr.  

In  re  the  queston  you  ask  about  the 
"connecting  theme"  of  my  books,  the 
most  obvious  connection  is,  of  course,  the 
fact  that  they  constitute  a  largish  family 
tree.  This  genealogy  I  began  to  trace 
out  as  far  back  as  1902,  when  I  wrote 
the  first  of  the  stories  afterward  bound 
up  together  in  The  Line  of  Love.  And 
the  general  "method"  followed  in  that 
volume — of  depicting  a  decisive  passage 
in  the  lives  of  two  persons,  then  a  simi- 
lar untying  of  knots  in  the  life  of  a  child 
of  that  couple,  and  yet  afterward  in  one 
of  the  grandchildren's  life-history, — has 
been  extended,  but  never  altered  in  my 
other  volumes.  The  most  plain  connec- 
tion of  my  various  books  is,  thus,  almost 
precisely  the  same  connection  that  exists 
among  the  several  stories  in  The  Line  of 
Love, 

Now  I  have  completed  the  "definitive" 
versions    (to  appear  in  the  autumn  of 


448000 


AN    EPISTOLARY    PREFACE 

1921)  of  Chivalry  and  The  Line  of  Love 
by  the  addition  of  considerable  matter, 
which,  for  one  reason  or  another,  was 
omitted  from  the  first  editions.  And  all 
traces  pretty  clearly  now  from  Dom 
Manuel,  and  the  descendants  whom  he 
and  Alianora  left  in  England,  and  other 
descendants  whom  he  and  Niafer  left  in 
Poictesme,  and  from  the  ten  images  that 
he  and  Freydis  informed  with  fire  from 
Audela,  and  set  to  live  as  men  among 
mankind. 

But  in  a  deeper  sense,  I  like  to  think, 
the  coherency  of  these  books  is  not  merely 
genealogic  .  .  .  Beyond  Life  now 
stands  as  a  sort  of  preface  to  embody  the 
vital  and  aesthetic  theories  thereafter 
builded  on.  Forthwith  you  have  Manuel, 
and  later  Jurgen,  posed  as  the  ancestors 
and  life-sources  of  all  my  leading  char- 
acters. It  is  the  life  of  Manuel,  and  the 
life  of  Jurgen,  as  this  life  is  perpetuated 
in  their  descendants,  that  I  continue  to 
tell  about.  The  vital  principle  of  each 
of  these  extreme  "types"  is  presently 
blended  with  the  other,  in  the  person  and 
in  the  progeny  of  Melite  de  Puysange; 


JAMES  BRANCH  CABELL 

and  the  compound  is — I  needn't  say, — 
very  variously  affected  and  guided  and 
foiled  by  the  milieu  in  which  it  there- 
after happens  to  find  itself.  But  it  is, 
actually,  with  Manuel's  life  and  with 
Jurgen's  life,  as  each  life  is  transmitted 
through  many  generations  down  to  the 
present  survival  of  this  life  in  Lichfield 
(and  with  in  most  cases  each  of  its  re- 
newals prefaced  by  an  edifyingly  proper 
matrimonial  prologue)  that  my  books 
are  concerned  always  .   .   . 

Manuel,  let  me  say  here,  I  planned  to 
be  the  type  which  finds  its  sole,  if  in- 
complete, expression  in  action:  I  have, 
in  consequence,  carefully  refrained  from 
ascribing  to  Dom  Manuel  any  thoughts 
whatever.  And  Jurgen  was  designed  to 
illustrate  Dom  Manuel's  utmost  contrary, 
in  that  Jurgen  derives  his  real,  his  deep- 
est, his  one  unfailing  pleasure  from  the 
exercise  of  his — pace  Mr.  Sumner — 
intelligence.  To  Jurgen,  the  progenitor 
of  all  the  poets  and  all  the  inadequate, 
unpractical  persons  in  my  books,  the 
most  interesting  thing  in  the  world — in 
fact,  the  one  wholly  worth  while  thing — 


AN    EPISTOLARY   PREFACE 

is  to  watch  his  own  brain  working,  espe- 
cially when  this  fine  curious  toy  is  set  to 
outmatch  the  workings  of  some  other 
brain.  Inevitably,  therefore,  Jurgen  has 
become  a  synonym  for  bodily  excess  .  . 

Between  these  two  extremes  range  the 
inherited  traits  of  their  descendants,  who 
display,  not  unnaturally,  an  occasional 
marked  family  resemblance.  And  the 
"connecting  theme"  of  the  books,  viewed 
in  this  light,  would  seem  to  be  the  lean 
and  dusty  axiom  that  human  beings  and 
human  living  are  pretty  much  the  same 
in  all  times  and  stations,  and  come  by 
varying  roads,  as  did  Jurgen  the  pawn- 
broker and  Manuel  the  high  Count,  to 
pretty  much  the  same  end  .  .  . 

Yet,  underlying  all,  of  course,  is  the 
profounder  "connecting  theme"  that  Hor- 
vendile  is  the  erratic  demiurge  who  com- 
poses and  controls  the  entire  business  ex- 
tempore, without  any  prompter  except 
his  own  whims :  but  that  is  really  a  mat- 
ter almost  too  complex  here  to  explain. 
Rather  does  discretion  urge  me  to  refer 
you  to  Saevius  Nicanor's  fine  chapters  on 
this  very  interesting  theory  .  .  .  For  it 

10 


JAMES  BRANCH  CABELL 

all  comes  back  to  theory,  and  to  the  cool- 
ing reflection  that  it  is  the  nature  of  every 
explanatory  theory  to  be  evolved  after 
the  phenomena  it  accounts  for — even,  I 
suspect,  when  it  is  one's  own  theory  about 
one's  own  books. 

James  Branch  Cabell 

Dumbarton  Grange, 
Dumbarton,  Virginia, 


IJ 


INTRODUCTION 

THIS  bibliographic  check  list  of  first 
editions  to  date  of  James  Branch 
Cabell  needs  no  excuse  except  the  large 
and  increasingly  number  of  collectors  of 
those  first  editions.  ^^'Tiile  collectors 
form  only  a  small  part  of  the  reading 
public,  their  activities  have  a  definite 
bearing  on  an  author's  fame  and  so  their 
convenience  is  here  sensed.  The  com- 
piler of  this  list  aids  their  purposes  not 
so  much  as  an  admirer  of  collecting  as 
an  admirer  of  Mr.  Cabell. 

Mr.  Hugh  Walpole  in  his  Yale  Review 
article,  "The  Art  of  James  Branch 
Cabell"  describes  the  Cabell  books  as  a 
"succession  of  instalments  in  one  long 
history."  In  speaking  of  the  recurrent 
figures  through  the  series  of  books  as 
linked  manifestations  of  "that  travelling 
soul  who  remains,  from  first  to  last,  his 
unfaltering  subject,"  Mr.  Walpole  finds 
his  proofs  of  intentional  links  in  follow- 

13 


INTRODUCTION 

ing  the  chronological  order,  as  in  the  con- 
ventional style  of  the  ordinary  check  list. 
Mr.  Cabell's  publishers,  in  reprinting  the 
Yale  Review  article,  append  a  list  in 
what  they  please  to  call  "geneological 
sequence,"  later  referring  to  the  list  as 
"Biography"  of  the  fictional  character  as 
opposed  to  the  three  "Genealogy"  books 
of  the  actual  Major  and  Branch  families. 
This  list  of  course  has  been  seen  and  ap- 
proved by  Mr.  Cabell,  if  not  actually  out- 
lined by  him,  and  is  as  follows:  Beyond 
Life,  Figures  of  Earth,  Domnei,  Chiv- 
alry, Jurgen,  Taboo,  The  Line  of  Love, 
Gallantry,  The  Certain  Hour,  The  Cords 
of  Vanity,  From  the  Hidden  Way,  The 
Rivet  in  Grandfather  s  Neck,  The  Eagle's 
Shadow,  The  Cream  of  the  Jest. 

Whether  this  linking  together  of  lit- 
erary output  was  designed  from  the  be- 
ginning of  Mr.  Cabell's  activity,  or  was  a 
growth  natural  to  following  a  certain 
method  of  work,  only  the  author  himself 
can  tell.  He  is  pleased  to  call  most  of 
his  books  comedies — of  purse  strings,  of 
shirking,  of  woman  worship,  of  limita- 
tions, of  evasions,  of  justice,  and  of  ap- 

14 


JAMES  BRANCH  CABELL 

pearances.  From  these  comedies  he  leaps 
lightly  now  and  then  into  a  "dizain" — 
coming  in  sets  of  ten,  as  one's  fingers  and 
toes,  dizains  of  wedlocks,  of  genteel  en- 
tertainment, of  royal  women,  of  poets,  of 
creative  intelligencies.  He  calls  your  at- 
tention to  human  foibles  with  a  smile  and 
a  shrug  of  the  shoulder,  rather  than  the 
loud  denounce  and  the  pointed  finger. 

The  method  of  this  check  list  is  to  give 
the  general  description  of  the  books  so 
that  they  can  be  visualized,  together  with 
whatever  technical  information  is  neces- 
sary to  define  to  a  certainty  the  first  print- 
ing or  binding.  The  list  is  so  short  that 
all  books  are  put  chronologically,  without 
trying  to  separate  from  it  those  of  less 
importance,  or  of  which  Mr.  Cabell  is 
author  only  in  part.  If  the  material  has 
previously  appeared  in  magazine  or 
newspaper,  we  indicate  that,  in  a  general 
way,  leaving  to  a  future  bibliographer 
the  exact  dates  and  extended  descriptions. 

M.J. 


15 


A  BIBLIOGRAPHIC 

CHECK-LIST  OF  THE  WORKS  OF 

JAMES  BRANCH  C\BELL 

1904 

V    The  Eagle's  Shadow 

12  mo,  red  cloth,  gilt  lettering,  gilt  and 
white  seal  on  front  cover  and  backbone, 
pictorial  end-papers.  New  York :  Double- 
day  Page  &  Company,  1904.  Title  and 
preliminary  pages  are  printed  in  green. 
Frontispiece  and  seven  illustrations  by 
Will  Grefe;  decorations  by  Blanche  Os- 
tertag.  256  pages.  In  the  first  state  the 
dedication  is  to  "M.L.P.B."  Novel.  A 
note  on  the  copyright  pages  says  "an 
abridged  version  of  this  story  appeared 
serially  in  the  Saturday  Evening  Post 
during  the  summer  of  1904.  The  novel 
is  here  given  as  originally  conceived  by 
the  author." 

17 


A  BIBLIOGRAPHIC  CHECK-LIST 
'^  1905 

The  Line  of  Love 

8  vo,  light  green  cloth,  gilt,  white  orna- 
mentation and  colored  paster  on  front 
cover.  Gilt  top,  otherwise  untrimmed; 
decorated  end-papers.  New  York:  Har- 
per &  Brothers,  1905.  Frontispiece  and 
nine  illustrations  in  color  by  Howard 
Pyle.  Collection  of  seven  related  short 
stories  (originally  appearing  in  Harper's 
Magazine)  with  Epistle  Dedication  and 
Envoi.  291  pages.  Second  bindings 
omit  most  of  the  elaborate  ornamenta- 
tion. 

1907 

Gallantry 

8  vo,  silver  grey  cloth,  gilt,  silver  and 
white  ornamentation.  Gilt  top,  otherwise 
untrimmed;  pictorial  end-papers.  New 
York:  Harper  &  Brothers,  1907.  Fron- 
tispiece and  three  illustrations  (tipped 
in)  in  color  by  Howard  Pyle.  Collec- 
tion of  eleven  short  stories,  credited  to 
various  magazines  in  a  foreword,  with 

18 


JAMES  BRANCH  CABELL 

Epistle  Dedicatory,  Prologue  and  Epi- 
logue. 334  pages.  Second  bindings 
omit  the  elaborate  ornamentation. 

1907 

Branchiana 

8  vo,  green  or  red  cloth,  gilt  lettering, 
gilt  top,  otherwise  untrimmed.  Rich- 
mond, Virginia:  Whittet  and  Shepper- 
son,  1907.  Frontispiece  and  nine  por- 
trait inserts.  177  pages  and  one  page  of 
Errata.  147  this  edition,  signed.  Later 
bindings  of  30  copies  are  in  buff,  with 
frontispiece  only. 

1909 

The  Cords  of  Vanity 

12  mo,  red  cloth,  white  lettering.  New 
York:  Doubleday  Page  &  Company, 
1909.  Frontispiece  in  color.  341  pages. 
Novel.  In  its  subsequent  revised  state  it 
is  called  "A  Comedy  of  Shirking."  The 
first  binding  has  "Cords  of  Vanity"  in 
box  on  front  cover,  and  "The"  is  also 
omitted  from  title  on  back  of  the  book. 

19 


A   BIBLIOGRAPHIC  CHECK-LIST 
1909 

1^  Chivalry 

8  vo,  red  cloth,  gilt,  white  and  green 
ornamentation.  Gilt  top,  otherwise  un- 
trimmed,  colored  end-papers.  New  York: 
Harper  &  Brothers,  1909.  Frontispiece 
and  nine  illustrations  in  color  by  Howard 
Pyle.  Collection  of  ten  short  stories, 
originally  appearing  in  Harper's  Maga- 
zine (with  the  exception  of  No.  7  of  the 
"Dizain  of  Queens"  series),  with  Pre- 
cautional.  Prologue  and  Epilogue.  224 
pages.  Second  bindings  omit  the  elab- 
orate ornamentation. 


1911 

Branch  of  Abingdon 

8  vo,  green  cloth,  gilt  top,  otherwise  un- 
trimmed.  Richmond,  Virginia:  Wm. 
Ellis  Jones  Sons,  Inc.,  1911.  Frontis- 
piece of  document  facsimile,  and  nine 
inserts  of  places  connected  with  the 
Branch  family.  126  pages.  100  copies. 
The  Kingsland  edition  was  limited  to  15 

20 


JAMES  BRANCH   CABELL 

copies,  of  which  only  ten  were  actually 
made — signed  and  numbered  1,  2,  3,  4, 
5,  6,  11,  12,  14,  15 — on  Japan  vellum 
paper,  title-page  in  two  colors,  and  bound 
in  red  Morocco.  In  copies  11,  12,  14, 
15,  the  seventh  line  of  page  114  was  re- 
set correctly,  "Mercia"  being  substituted 
for  "Chester,"  so  that  these  four  copies 
differ  from  all  other  copies.  At  the  same 
time  were  printed  100  signed  and  num- 
bered copies,  and  100  unnumbered  and 
unsigned  copies,  in  green  buckram. 


1913 

The  Soul  of  Melicent 

Small  8  vo,  dark  blue  cloth  (later  bind- 
ings in  black),  gilt,  pictorial  paster  on 
front  cover.  New  York:  Frederick  A. 
Stokes  Company,  1913.  Frontispiece 
and  three  illustrations  in  color  by  How- 
ard Pyle.  Novel.  216  pages.  In  its 
revised  state  as  "Domnei,"  it  is  called 
"A  Comedy  of  Woman-Worship." 

21 


A  BIBLIOGRAPHIC  CHECK-LIST 
1915 

The  Rivet  in  Grandfather's  Neck 

12  mo,  brown  cloth,  gilt.  New  York: 
Robert  M.  McBride  &  Company,  1915. 
368  pages.  Novel:  "A  Comedy  of  Lim- 
itations." 

1915 

The  Majors  and  Their  Marriages 

8  vo,  green  cloth,  gilt  lettering,  top 
trimmed,  otherwise  uncut.  Richmond, 
Virginia:  The  W.  C.  Hill  Printing  Com- 
pany, 1915.  183  pages.  Burlington 
edition,  so  described,  has  100  copies 
signed.  The  Roxbury  edition  is  in  paper, 
blue-gray  or  buff,  200  unnumbered  and 
unsigned. 

1916 

From  the  Hidden  Way 

12  mo,  brown  cloth,  gilt,  top  trimmed, 
othenvise  uncut.  New  York:  Robert  M. 
McBride  &  Company,  1916.  187  pages. 
The  title  page  states  it  to  be  "seventy- 

22 


JAMES  BRANCH  CABELL 

five  adaptations  in  verse."  The  first 
binding  has :  From  the  /  Hidden  /  Way 
(ornament)  James  /  Branch  /  Cabell  on 
the  front  cover,  has  trimmed  edges  and 
is  ^  of  an  inch  less  in  height  than  later 
issues.  Second  binding  has  underlined 
"c"  in  "McBride"  on  backbone. 


1916 

The  Certain  Hour 

12  mo,  brown  cloth,  gilt,  dark  brown 
plate  behind  title  on  front  cover.  New 
York:  Robert  M.  McBride  &  Company, 
1916.  253  pages.  Collection  of  ten 
short  stories,  as  the  sub-title  (Dizain  des 
Poetes)  would  indicate,  reprinted  from 


1917 

The  Cream  of  the  Jest 

12  mo,  brown  cloth,  gilt  lettering,  top 
trimmed,  otherwise  uncut.  New  York: 
Robert  M.  McBride  &  Company,  1917. 
280  pages.  Novel:  "A  Comedy  of 
Evasions." 

23 


A  BIBLIOGRAPHIC  CHECK-LIST 

1919 

Beyond  Life 

12  mo,  brown  cloth,  gilt  lettering,  top 
trimmed,  otherwise  uncut.  New  York: 
Robert  M.  McBride  &  Company,  1919. 
Essays:  "Dizain  des  Demiurges."  (Crea- 
tive Intellects)  Some  few  of  the  earliest 
issues  were  bound  in  a  very  dark  cloth, 
"Italian  chocolate" — so  dark  as  to  be 
almost  black. 


1919 

JURGEN 

12  mo,  brown  cloth,  gilt  lettering,  top 
trimmed,  otherwise  uncut.  New  York: 
Robert  M.  McBride  &  Company,  1919. 
368  pages.  Novel:  "A  Comedy  of  Jus- 
tice." The  "suppressed"  book.  First 
issue  measures  1%  inches  across  the  top 
of  sheets.  Second  edition  on  thicker 
paper  measures  about  ^  inch  more. 
Third  edition  states  the  fact  on  the  copy- 
right page. 

24 


JAMES  BRANCH  CABELL 

1920 

DOMNEI 

12  mo,  brown  cloth,  gilt,  top  trimmed, 
otherwise  uncut.  New  York :  Robert  M. 
McBride  &  Company,  1920.  218  pages. 
This  is  announced  by  the  publisher  as  a 
revised  edition  of  "Melicent,"  (1913) 
q.  V. 

1920 

The  Cords  of  Vanity 

12  mo,  brown  cloth,  gilt,  top  trimmed, 
otherwise  uncut.  New  York:  Robert  M. 
McBride  and  Company,  1920.  330 
pages.  Novel:  "A  Comedy  of  Shirk- 
ing." Revised  edition  of  book  pub- 
lished in  1909. 

1920 

Prize  Stories,  1919 

0.  Henry  Memorial  Award 

8  vo,  blue-black  cloth,  gilt  lettering. 
Garden  City:  Doubleday  Page  &  Com- 
pany, 1920.   298  pages.   Contains  "Por- 

25 


448000 


A  BIBLIOGRAPHIC  CHECK-LIST 

celain  Cups"  by  James  Branch  Cabell, 
pp.  210-217,  reprinted  from  the  Century- 
Magazine. 

1920 

The  Best  Short  Stories  of  1919 

Edited  by  Edward  J.  O'Brien 

8  vo,  blue-black  cloth,  gilt  lettering. 
Boston:  Small,  Maynard  &  Company, 
1920.  414  pages.  Contains  "The  Wed- 
ding Jest"  by  James  Branch  Cabell,  pp. 
108-122,  reprinted  from  the  Century 
Magazine. 

1920 

The  Judging  of  Jurgen 

12  mo;  pamphlet,  green,  blue,  brown  or 
buif  paper  covers,  cord  binding,  paper 
label.  Chicago:  The  Bookfellows,  1920. 
14  pages.  Reprinted  with  slight  re- 
visions from  the  New  York  Tribune, 
The  large  paper  edition  of  6  copies  is 
about  9  by  11  inches,  bound  in  brown 
boards,  brown  cloth  back,  paper  label. 

26 


JAMES  BRANCH  CABELL 

/  1920 

JURGEN  AND   THE   CeNSOR 

Thin  8  vo,  light  brown  cloth  back  and 
comers,  gilt  top,  otherwise  untrimmed 
Paper  label  on  back.     New  York,  1920 
Report  of  the  emergency  committee  or 
ganized  to  protest  against  the  suppres 
sion  of  James  Branch  Cabell's  "Jurgen.' 
Contains  preface,  pp.  7-9,  and  pp.  63-64, 
"The  Judging  of  Jurgen"  by  Cabell.    77 
pages.     433  copies,  9^  by  6^/8,   and 
fifty  copies,  numbers  1  to  50,  which  are 
9^  by  7^,  and  are  signed  by  Cabell,  as 
is  stated  upon  the  paper  label. 


1920 

JOHAN  BOJER 

By  Carl  Gad 

12  mo,  blue-black  cloth,  red  lettering. 
New  York:  Moffat  Yard  &  Company, 
1920.  260  pages.  Contains  "Critique 
on  the  Face  of  the  World"  by  James 
Branch  Cabell,  pp.  247-255. 

27 


A  BIBLIOGRAPHIC  CHECK-LIST 

1921 
Figures  of  Earth 

12  mo,  brown  cloth,  gilt,  top  trimmed, 
otherwise  uncut.  New  York:  Robert 
M.  McBride  &  Company,  1921.  356 
pages.  Novel:  "A  Comedy  of  Appear- 
ances." On  page  71,  the  word  "multus" 
in  the  twelfth  line  is  changed  to 
"mundus"  in  the  second  edition.  Of  the 
first  edition  twenty-five  copies  were  is- 
sued altogether  untrimmed,  and  signed 
by  the  author. 

1921 
Taboo 

Thin  12  mo,  brown  cloth,  gilt  lettering. 
New  York:  Robert  M.  McBride,  1921. 
40  pages.  Skit  in  the  "Jurgen"  vein, 
originally  appeared  in  the  New  York 
Evening  Post,  here  revised  and  extended 
with  headings,  subheadings,  dedications, 
etc.  This  edition  limited  to  920  copies, 
100  signed  by  the  author.  There  is  a 
previously  printed  four  page  leaflet,  said 
to  have  been  put  out  in  Chicago,  about 
20  or  30  copies,  the  size  and  style  of 
"Jurgen  and  the  Censor,"  a  straight  re- 
print of  the  Evening  Post  article. 


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t  /T) 


fiNIVERSITY  of  CALIF&KWIA 

AT 
LOS  ANGELES 

LIBRARY 


U^y^ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


Form  L9-2m-6,'49(B4568)444 


Johnson 


8139.7 
J  63b 


Bibliographic 
check-list  of 
the  works  of 
James  Branch 


Cabell 


Z 

8139.7 
J63b 


